Reflections

I get super nostalgic around the holidays. So here are some of my favorite Christmas memories.

I remember going to a cabin once. I must have been really young, because I only have very vague memories. I remember sitting with my legs through a railing with my brothers and singing Christmas songs.

I remember my mom's parents coming for Christmas and we would go on carriage rides at temple square. I LOVE the nativity there.

I loved being in singing groups and choirs during the Christmas season. We always got to go to places we would not have gone normally but that were sure fun (i.e. the Festival of Trees and the Dicken's Festival). I had a great group of friends in high school and it was wonderful to go together to express our love of the Savior to others and to each other. I LOVE Christmas music!

I remember the year my Grandma passed away. It was a hard time for me. Even though that Christmas was bitter, it was sweet in that I got to see a lot of my cousins, aunts and uncles that I hadn't seen in years. We got to get reacquainted and I really do have a great family that extends beyond my siblings. It was also a time when the knowledge of the Savior and his mission were very near the surface of our hearts.

The very next year, my roommate invited me to come home with her and be involved in their Christmas tradition of rolling chocolates. I LOVED it. I love this roommate and her family (Amanda, you know I'm talking about you!). We slept underneath their Christmas tree that night and had such a great time!

Aaron proposed to me on Christmas Eve. He hates the story, so I won't tell it, but it was nice to FINALLY have our engagement be official.

Our first Christmas was GREAT. We marathon drove from DC to Utah, making it in under two days! I got to see for the first time the after effects of an ice storm. While I never want to experience one, they sure are beautiful! We surprised my parents and had a wonderful time with family.

Sledding in Canada... SO fun and yet one of the most TERRIFYING things I've ever done. NO really. In all the times I've gone skiing, swiss bobbing (one AWESOME time) and sledding, I've gotten braver with each run. NOT in Canada! I think I was more terrified at the end than I've ever been doing anything!

The hay ride in Canada was AWESOME too. Being pulled by two HUGE Clydesdale and actually getting to drive was great. Even though I wasn't strong enough to really get them to go where I wanted :)

At the DC temple they do a live nativity. I was doing an internship and had to work one Sunday. Apparently they'd asked Aaron at church if we'd like to play Mary and Joseph, but Aaron said he'd have to talk to me about it first. He to turn it down, but they got to me first and I readily accepted. Definitely a FAVORITE Christmas memory. (pictured above) It was so neat to feel the spirit as we thought of how it would be to know that you were charged with raising the son of God. Aaron is now grateful that I accepted and we both would do it again in a heartbeat.

There are so many more, and I'm looking forward to adding to it and hopefully make Christmas just as special for my children as it was to me.